Nets and Hawks have a deal to send Joe Johnson to NJ!

According to Chris Broussard and David Aldrige the Nets have a deal to get Joe Johnson from the Hawks for Farmar, Petro, Morrow, Stevenson and a protected pick from Houston. The deal would also keep MarShon Brooks and Gerald Green with the Nets. I personally love this deal for the Nets since I can totally see Joe Johnson, D-Will and Gerald Wallace all playing great together, then you throw in a little MarShon Brooks? Possible playoff contention right around the coroner. As for the Hawks, not a big fan of this trade except the amount of cap space they create by getting rid of Johnson. Thoughts?

@ChrisBroussard - Source on Nets moving on from possibility of getting Dwight: "Dwight blew it in March'' when he waived opt-out clause.

This is what I'm saying! Dwight wasted the Nets time by even considering the extension with Orlando let alone signing it! About time they moved in another direction that way they could secure D-Will. Good for them.

@ChrisBroussard - Nets, of course, would've preferred to get Dwight, but Magic refused to engage in trade talks. Source: 'They didn't want to dance with us.'

The Suns, who put up 83 points through three quarters Friday, finished the night with 30 assists and shot 51 percent from the field. Their 28-15 first-quarter blitz included 71 percent shooting (5 of 7 from 3-point range), due to a couple of things they didn't accomplish during Wednesday's preseason-opening loss to the Kings in Sacramento.

Cavaliers head coach Byron Scott has a very young team with a number of high draft picks that need a lot playing time in order to develop and when the team drafted Tyler Zeller in June, he finally got a true center to work with.

“I thought (Varejao) was probably a little uncomfortable because he has played at five for the last three years for me, so switching to the four spot, there were certain plays where he was just a little lost. That is why we are down there right now working with him on the four spot, so he can get that. Andy is a fast learner, so I don’t think he will have any problem learning the four spot because when he is in there with Tyler that is the position he will be playing. I love the energy and how physical they were out there together and that was something I wanted to see.

“Well yeah, for sure, he plays my position so I’m definitely looking forward to helping him just like some of the other guys,” Gordon said. “We got a lot of young guys and I’ve never been on a young team like this, but it’s good to progress with them.”

“It’s been great,” Davis told HOOPSWORLD of his first NBA preseason and training camp. “Just got to keep working hard. It’s been tough on us, tough on me especially because of guys coming after me. I got to learn how to play through that and move onto the next game.”

What We Learned From the Preseason: Offensively, the Magic are probably going to be okay. There are plenty of players still on this roster with the ability to score the ball, even in an offense that no longer has a paint-clogger like Dwight Howard. Defensively, however, this is going to be a very brutal ball club this year, and their lack of size is probably going to be a problem. No one expects much from these guys this year, and for good reason.

Look, this is a roster that features four of the six oldest players in the entire league, so injuries are going to be an issue, which means depth is going to be an issue. That means this entire season could end up being an issue. When healthy, they’ve got one of the most talented rosters in the conference. When hurt, they’re just another East team without the guns to seriously contend.

A fun-filled scrimmage on a Sunday afternoon effectively illustrated the need for depth in the NBA, as three Raptors could easily have been sidelined by injury for the home opener. If the team is lucky, everyone will be back by Wednesday, but the Raptors may also need to utilize some of that depth a little earlier than expected.

“I think about adding Jeremy and Kevin to this group and it’s exciting to me, it’s very exciting to me. I think those guys add to what it is we have in place and what we have in place is a group of very competitive people and last night, as I was wrapping up the end of the trade and the things that have to happen, I also looked out my window and Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka were in here, working individually with our coaching staff on separate baskets and I thought about that we were adding two qualities players to a group of guys who are really invested with what it is that we’re trying to do here and take a lot of pride with playing with the Thunder.